Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bite one's tongue

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.88 in modern English

Syllables: bite one's -tongue
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To resist the urge to speak out, especially in order to avoid saying something inappropriate or likely to cause a dispute.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"She wanted to go see a movie called Gigi, which I was not too thrilled about. But being a gentleman, I bit my tongue and said, “Okay.”"
"I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath / Scared to rock the boat and make a mess."
"[…]my automatic tongue-biting mechanism kicked in just in time."
"I swear I meant to mean the best when it ended / Even try to bite my tongue when you start shit / Now you're texting all my friends, asking questions / They never even liked you in the first place"
"Yet while elected officials bite their tongues, the Maga media ecosystem has descended into extraordinary and often crude blood-letting."

Usage

Intransitive verb

Inflected Forms

bites one's tongue (present, singular) biting one's tongue (participle, present) bit one's tongue (past) bitten one's tongue (participle, past)

Phrases

hold one's tongue guard one's tongue cat got someone's tongue

Frequently Paired Words

hold one's tongue guard one's tongue cat got someone's tongue

Synonyms

bite one's lip

Questions

What does bite one's tongue mean?: To resist the urge to speak out, especially in order to avoid saying something inappropriate or likely to cause a dispute.

How to pronounce bite one's tongue

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